Wednesday, December 02, 2009

The Nightingale's Song by John Caple

I'm hard-pushed to describe exactly how I felt when a stunning catalogue and an invitation to the London preview of Somerset artist John Caple's solo exhibition, The Nightingale's Song arrived.My first introduction to the paintings of John Caple was through Nell Leyshon and the hardback cover to her novel Black Dirt and the pictures quickly connected with me in a way that one artist rarely does. Nell very kindly sent me a copy of John's book Somerset which has been perched open on a bookstand by my desk every since. I stare at it, disappear into it, turn the page to a different picture every few days but it's been a book that I have completely and regularly immersed myself in from the moment it arrived.Something seems exactly right when I look at John Caple's paintings, from style to colour range to atmosphere, I pick up an honesty there making that deeper significance very available, and to someone like me who can stare at a picture for ever and not see what I'm supposed to, that's all very heartening.In John's own words...

'I have looked for descriptions that have sensed the invisible hand of nature shaping everyday lives and the fascination this inspired.'

The Nightingale mixed media on board 32 x 44ins

There is something genuine and unpretentious to these paintings and perhaps this biographical detail explains that,

"He is entirely self-taught and as untroubled by contemporary art as he
is unbothered by academic training. His work requires neither. He has
worked out the way he paints entirely for himself, a manner of painting
that is straightforward, simple and perfectly suited to the job. It
belongs to that long tradition of English folk art that one sees in
medieval church carving, samplers and early English pottery."

Initially I sensed a likeness to the St Ives paintings of Alfred Wallace but there's a vast difference and this information from the JM Gallery website confirms what I thought I knew but couldn't quite express,

"In the twentieth century the folk tradition was often confused with
naïve art, yet an important distinction exists between the two and that
distinction in many ways helps to understand John's work. Whereas a
naïve artist paints entirely from within a private, enclosed world, an
artist like John Caple is expressing stories and sentiments that have a
shared ownership. In the twenty-first century he is an oddity amongst
painters - though that is an observation that will trouble him little."

Now imagine how I felt when I discover that the preview is to be held from 6-8pm this evening on the day that I will be boarding my train home from London at 3pm....parrot...sick as etc and how grateful I am that the gallery have very kindly said I can go in and sneak a preview of the preview and just see John's paintings for real. I'll report back, but for anyone in London between 3-22 December 2009 don't miss the chance to see these paintings if they strike a chord with you too. The exhibition is on at the John Martin Gallery, 38 Albermarle Street W1 (Mon-Fri 10 - 6 Saturday 11- 4) just around the corner from the Royal Academy.

Final words to John Caple

'In the west country there is a word Wisht which describes all that is uncanny, mysterious and enchanted and can be applied to pretty much anything...the cusp between dusk and dawn, the edge of a wood...Heard but rarely seen, the nightingale's song represents the numinous presence of nature, conveying the awareness and the enchantment of these unseen realities.'

Comments

The Nightingale's Song by John Caple

I'm hard-pushed to describe exactly how I felt when a stunning catalogue and an invitation to the London preview of Somerset artist John Caple's solo exhibition, The Nightingale's Song arrived.My first introduction to the paintings of John Caple was through Nell Leyshon and the hardback cover to her novel Black Dirt and the pictures quickly connected with me in a way that one artist rarely does. Nell very kindly sent me a copy of John's book Somerset which has been perched open on a bookstand by my desk every since. I stare at it, disappear into it, turn the page to a different picture every few days but it's been a book that I have completely and regularly immersed myself in from the moment it arrived.Something seems exactly right when I look at John Caple's paintings, from style to colour range to atmosphere, I pick up an honesty there making that deeper significance very available, and to someone like me who can stare at a picture for ever and not see what I'm supposed to, that's all very heartening.In John's own words...

'I have looked for descriptions that have sensed the invisible hand of nature shaping everyday lives and the fascination this inspired.'

The Nightingale mixed media on board 32 x 44ins

There is something genuine and unpretentious to these paintings and perhaps this biographical detail explains that,

"He is entirely self-taught and as untroubled by contemporary art as he
is unbothered by academic training. His work requires neither. He has
worked out the way he paints entirely for himself, a manner of painting
that is straightforward, simple and perfectly suited to the job. It
belongs to that long tradition of English folk art that one sees in
medieval church carving, samplers and early English pottery."

Initially I sensed a likeness to the St Ives paintings of Alfred Wallace but there's a vast difference and this information from the JM Gallery website confirms what I thought I knew but couldn't quite express,

"In the twentieth century the folk tradition was often confused with
naïve art, yet an important distinction exists between the two and that
distinction in many ways helps to understand John's work. Whereas a
naïve artist paints entirely from within a private, enclosed world, an
artist like John Caple is expressing stories and sentiments that have a
shared ownership. In the twenty-first century he is an oddity amongst
painters - though that is an observation that will trouble him little."

Now imagine how I felt when I discover that the preview is to be held from 6-8pm this evening on the day that I will be boarding my train home from London at 3pm....parrot...sick as etc and how grateful I am that the gallery have very kindly said I can go in and sneak a preview of the preview and just see John's paintings for real. I'll report back, but for anyone in London between 3-22 December 2009 don't miss the chance to see these paintings if they strike a chord with you too. The exhibition is on at the John Martin Gallery, 38 Albermarle Street W1 (Mon-Fri 10 - 6 Saturday 11- 4) just around the corner from the Royal Academy.

Final words to John Caple

'In the west country there is a word Wisht which describes all that is uncanny, mysterious and enchanted and can be applied to pretty much anything...the cusp between dusk and dawn, the edge of a wood...Heard but rarely seen, the nightingale's song represents the numinous presence of nature, conveying the awareness and the enchantment of these unseen realities.'

Constants...

Team Tolstoy

Team TolstoyA year-long shared read of War & Peace through the centenary year of Count Lyev Nikolayevich Tolstoy's death, starting on his birthday, September 9th 2010.
Everyone is welcome to board the troika and read along, meeting here on the 9th of every month to chat in comments about the book.

Team Tolstoy BookmarkDon't know your Bolkonskys from your Rostovs?
An aide memoire that can be niftily printed and laminated into a double-sided bookmark.

Port Eliot Festival

Copyright

I try to be extremely careful about any images used on this blog, most of them are my own and if not I check permissions for use very carefully.
If you think I have breached copyright rules in any way please let me know.